Rs 7.5 cr unaccounted assets at Chopra’s home: IT

Mumbai, Jan 28 (Agencies): Several documents revealing unaccounted wealth of around Rs 11 crore was recovered by income tax officials during their searches at the properties of actress Priyanka Chopra and photographer Atul Kasbekar.

I-T department has been conducting searches on the premises of Atul Kasbekar, Priyanka Chopra and Katrina Kaif but three of them have denied having ‘concealed’ wealth.

Priyanka and her father, Dr Ashok Chopra, have reportedly concealed income of Rs 7.5 crore, while Kasbekar, who runs event management firm Blink, did not reveal the details of his Rs 4-crore earnings.

The department has not found any cash at any of the premises. "It was a surprise for us as we believed the film sector is still dependent on the cash component. Actors are mostly paid in cash. , be it for ads or appearances at parties. Still, it is too early to say anything as investigations are still going on and we are yet to open the sealed lockers of Priyanka, Kasbekar and Katrina Kaif," an I-T official said.

So far, officials have found out that Chopra owns nine flats. The income-tax officials, who took a little longer to finish the search in Priyanka's properties, has reportedly concealed about Rs 6-crore income and her father, about Rs 1.5 crore. But spokesperson for the actress said, "We deny the malicious rumours doing the rounds spread in the media on the basis of some unidentified sources. We are cooperating with the I-T authorities on their ongoing investigations and are. We decline to comment now."

The celebrities under the scanner, including Katrina, however, continue to deny having unaccounted for wealth.

Kasbekar, who was associated with Matrix (celebrity management agency) that handled Katrina's account as well, is upset. "The allegation that Rs 4 crore was found at my home is false and I deny it completely. It can be verified by senior I-T investigating officers of the income tax department. For the record, as an ad photographer, no client will ever pay me in cash and nor do I ever encourage that practice. No client at Bling works on cash payments. All our transactions are usually accompanied by long-term contracts and they are always official. I am not associated with Matrix, I left the company in 2006,” said Atul.